Hot Topics:

Mayoral candidates face off in Dacono

By Scott RochatLongmont Times-Call

Posted:
10/18/2012 09:50:41 PM MDT

Updated:
10/19/2012 11:47:15 AM MDT

DACONO -- Dacono mayoral challenger Sandra Tucker charged the city's government with being out of touch and behind on its responsibilities at a Thursday night forum, even as incumbent Mayor Charles Sigman said Dacono was getting ready for takeoff.

"I am all about cleaning up Dacono, about making this community a tight-knit community," said Tucker, who claimed many residents had given up on trying to talk with the City Council and that "Old Town" was being neglected. "This problem didn't happen yesterday. It needs to be addressed and nobody's doing it. They (the leaders) keep the things they don't want people to hear about them well-hidden."

"I represent the people as a whole, not one community or another," said Sigman, who said his roots were in Old Town. "I hear a lot of 'I'd do this.' The truth is, it's not one individual person that's going to do anything. It's got to be as a team, a team of council and community members."

The two spoke as part of a forum at Dacono City Hall sponsored by the Carbon Valley Chamber of Commerce. The night also included City Councilman Mike Ayers and council candidate Geneiveve "Gen" Schneider; since only two council seats are up for election, Ayers and Schneider are assured of election, barring a strong write-in candidacy.

Advertisement

Dacono mayors are largely ceremonial leaders, having the power to chair City Council meetings and cast a tiebreaking vote if necessary. Sigman said the city had weathered the recession well, avoiding service cuts and shrinking its staff through attrition. New business is looking at Dacono, he said, and many existing ones are doing well, such as Blitz Paintball and the Colorado National Speedway -- both among the businesses that Dacono is using to push an image as an "extreme sports" destination.

Candidate for mayor Sandra Tucker responds to a question during a candidates forum Thursday at Dacono City Hall.
(
Matthew Jonas
)

But there's plenty to do, he said, especially in attracting primary and retail jobs, replacing aging water lines and improving an aging housing stock.

"We need to solve how to produce a wide range of housing options, but still maintain the quality of housing," Sigman said.

Tucker agreed that the city needed more business, but also said it should support its existing ones, including the medical marijuana dispensary Dacono Meds. The dispensary is one of three that will have to close at year's end if a new city law takes effect.

"It is vital to the community to not just put your foot down and shut down something because you don't like it," she said.

Some of Tucker's statements charging neglect of Old Town and The Glens neighborhood drew mutters from the audience. That included comments by Tucker that no one in The Glens could get insurance or a visit from the city's leaders; some residents of the neighborhood in the audience later denied both.

"We can't get insurance? That's not true," one woman said as a friend nodded agreement. "There are some places that are so old and in such poor shape they can't get it."

Tucker also said Dacono needed to hire a city planner and agreed with an idea floated by Schneider -- to have banks pay a $6,000 per year fee for any foreclosed home still vacant.

Sigman said he also wanted to see the Legacy Trail extended to the Sweetgrass neighborhood, but that the city didn't have the land it needed or the budget to build on it. Most of all, he said, Dacono needed to work together to make itself a community that would draw others.

"We want to make sure the businesses we bring here bring what Dacono is looking for -- to be a respectable, safe community that you can work and play in," Sigman said.

Article Comments

We reserve the right to remove any comment that violates our ground rules, is spammy, NSFW, defamatory, rude, reckless to the community, etc.

We expect everyone to be respectful of other commenters. It's fine to have differences of opinion, but there's no need to act like a jerk.

Use your own words (don't copy and paste from elsewhere), be honest and don't pretend to be someone (or something) you're not.

Our commenting section is self-policing, so if you see a comment that violates our ground rules, flag it (mouse over to the far right of the commenter's name until you see the flag symbol and click that), then we'll review it.

Boulder is pretty good at producing rock bands, and by "rock," we mean the in-your-face, guitar-heavy, leather-clad variety — you know, the good kind. For a prime example, look no farther than BANDITS. Full Story